Assessing House-Owners’ Level of Awareness on The National Building Regulations, L.I. 1630, in The Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis.

Abstract

Ignorance on Planning and Building Regulations significantly accounts for the proliferation of unauthorized buildings in most towns and metropolis in the world.Consequently, this research gives an empirical account on the awareness level of House-owners in Asakae, a suburb of the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis, on the National Building Regulations, L.I.1630, and suggests measures toaddressthem. The research objectives were: to assess the awareness of House-owners on the L.I.1630 and; to suggest measures to address them.Pertinent to this research were sections related toBuilding Permit and Plot Development.Accordingly,182 House-owners were sampled for the study using and questionnaire survey approach was adopted for the study. Likewise, data generated from the survey was further analyzed, using Relative Importance Index (RII). The findings of the survey indicated that, views expressed by House-owners constituted average RII values of 0.530 and 0.585 on Plot Development and Building Permit respectively. Indicating that, House-owners are not much cognizant with the provisions of the L.I.1630. It is recommended that the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly should adopt educational campaigns to sensitize its populace on the provisions of the L.I. 1630, specifically on Building Permit and Plot Development. A long term measure is to entrench lessons on the L.I. 1630 in the academic curriculum of schools in the metropolis to curb the level of ignorance. Thus, a generation would be raised who would be well knowledgeable on the provisions of the L.I.1630 and will build right, thus, achieving harmonious spatial development in the Metropolis.

Keywords: Assessing, House-owners , Awareness, Building regulations.